The Price of Freedom
by NightKrawler88
Summary: Beacon has Fallen. Team RNJR are already off to Mistral while Blake is nowhere to be seen or heard. Weiss decides to stay with the Xiao-Longs in hopes of getting Yang back on her feet. Will Weiss manage to get Yang out and about, or will Yang continue to hide within the safety of her home? More importantly . . . Can Yang get over her flashbacks of Adam?
1. Arm's Race

_**This story can and may go in several different directions, which is why I haven't put genres on it yet. If you do not like OCs, then I would highly suggest you leave.  
**_

 _ **If you dislike overpowered OC's that have no character flaw, then you may want to stay since my OC has several flaws to balance out her strengths, both in character and in battle.**_

 _ **This story is also following an AU where White Rose and Bumbleby have been established, although those two ships may not be present for a while (or at all.)**_

 _ **Without further delay, please enjoy and drop a review.**_

 _ **Chapter 1 - Arm's Race**_

 _ **"There's not going to be a next time, Blondie!"**_

Every time I close my eyes, I realize that those words are what started it all. With my own eyes I saw him attack me, and with my own hands I defended myself. It's been months since 'The Fall of Beacon' as everyone's been taking to calling it, and just about the same amount of time since Rubes took off.

The frost and cold weather of winter have already passed, leaving days of radiating sunshine, chirping birds, and the type of weather that should make anyone feel happy and nostalgic.

I wish that could work on me.

Ever since _**it**_ happened all I ever see is the twisted stare _**he**_ gave me.

Based on what she's told me, that had to be her old partner. Blake was a little bit off the mark when she said he 'changed'. From a peaceful protester to someone that could disarm me without even a split-second of hesitation, on top of stab his own (former) partner in the abdomen is not a simple 'change'. That's a complete metamorphosis.

Since then it's been a simple, quiet life for me. I help with chores, trying my best to manage with one less limb.

It's a pain in the ass to say the least, am I right? . . . No, I'm a lefty now.

Gotta find something to joke about, right?

I'd rather be the butt of my own jokes at this point. Blake just up and left the moment she knew I was stable. Weiss is here at least - I doubt she wants to go back to Atlas - and my little sis can't accept the fact that there's not always a good ending to every story. I can't blame her for that. Summer taught her of all the good there is in the world. She was Super Mom to say the least.

Ruby's a strong Huntress-in-Training, and a good leader to boot. At the end of the day though, she's still my little sis. At the end of the day she's still too young to shoulder these burdens by herself. Thankfully she's with - what's left of - Team JNPR

"Yang?"

Immediately, my eyes are drawn towards the door to my room. It's approaching the evening on Patch. The easiest way to tell is the orange skies and blinding hue that peeks in through my bedside window. Standing in the doorway, practically glowing from the setting sun is Weiss in her usual combat attire.

"What's up, Ice Queen?" I ask the future heir while I swing the covers off of my legs. If I had to guess, I'd say she's here to tell me that dinner's ready.

"Will you ever stop it with that nickname? I'd like to think I've evolved from that persona." There's a clear rolling of the eyes before she takes a couple of steps into the room.

 _Well, if she came in then it's not a dinner bell . . . Dust._

"You're never outgrowing 'Ice Queen' as a nickname. Doesn't it make you all fuzzy and nostalgic when I use it?" I ask with a playful tone. Instead of humoring me, she takes a seat at the edge of my bed, directly next to me.

"Yang, your father and I decided to get you a little gift. It's downstairs if you want to take a look at it. I think you should take the chance to try getting back to your old self . . . I promised Ruby that I wouldn't leave without you being in good health. My interpretation of that is _**'until she's back on her feet'**_."

"Weiss, you and Ruby were - are - inseparable. Why didn't you just go with her?" Out of habit I toss my left arm over her shoulder to pull her back until she lets her shoulders touch my lap. It's taken several arguments and failed attempts to get her to settle down like this with me, but finally we're at a point where she doesn't fight me.

"Because she's not just my girlfriend. She's my partner, my leader, my best friend, and my lover. You're not just a person on my team anymore . . . you, Yang Xiao Long," Weiss starts to say. She extends her left hand out, poking me on the tip of my nose for emphasis, "are family."

It's odd. Weiss being so nice to me is something I may never get used to. For the past couple of months she's been the one to help around the house with tasks I couldn't do too effectively. She's made washing plates easier by setting a glyph at my side to help keep it still, or even flip it over. She hasn't exactly 'taken over' my tasks, but she helps save me time with the little things.

Unfortunately, I still have that one spot on my back that I can only reach with my right hand to scratch . . . What I wouldn't give to claw that itch.

"I'm family? Am I getting tossed into that will of yours?" I retort with a snicker.

"Not until you show you're responsible with Schnee funds and privileges." She counters with the typical 'Ice Queen' stare I draw out of her from time to time.

"It'll only take me about a week to get used to it. After I throw up from alcohol poisoning the first time it'd never happen again, I promise." I bite back with a growing smile. It's always fun to start a fight with Weiss, especially when she's laying back like this. It's hard to say, but it's kind of cute.

Not her, definitely not her. I just see the fact that arguing with me while also laying on my lap is a cute concept . . . especially since she'll yell and scream at me without getting up. It's happened a few times already.

"By then you would've drained over half of my family's money. I don't think so. You're missing enough brain cells as is." Weiss attacks back with a look of confidence. She's been getting a little smarter with her comebacks. It does make our arguments a little more fun and playful. Definitely more entertaining than our Beacon days.

"Come on, like carrying me to my room isn't fun! Most people would give an arm to carry me to bed." I grin.

"If that's the case, you can carry yourself. You seem to have made the appropriate sacrifice." Weiss remarks.

She turns her head to lay her cheek on my lap while still looking in my direction. A comment like that is a boundary she would normally never cross, but she's been learning my sense of humor. On top of that, I'd normally punch her in the arm for making a joke like that, but like she said . . . we're family. I can't be mad at her (for long).

"Harsh . . . if only Rubes could've heard that one." I tease.

Before she can offer a counter, I bring my left arm down to wrap around her lower back. With an added kick from both my legs I manage to bring her high enough that I can get a strong enough grip to toss her onto my bed to lay between me and my wall.

"It would be highly appreciated if you didn't throw me onto your bed like a cheap date." Weiss sighs and takes off her heels so I can put them down on the floor for her. "I swear, sometimes your affections make me wonder if I'm just a temporary placeholder for Bl- . . . Sorry."

"You're fine, Weiss . . . I hope she's okay."

Weiss isn't wrong to an extent, I guess. I miss Blake. I miss her a lot to be honest. It took me way too long to get her to say 'yes' to me, and I miss the way she used to scold me. I miss her sarcasm, I miss how quiet she used to be, and I definitely miss her ears!

"She'll be fine, Yang . . . but she has a lot of explaining to do. There's no reason for her to leave us . . . to leave you in this state." Weiss takes a deep breath prior to laying her head on my shoulder.

On instinct I begin to move my right arm to pull her closer, only to be reminded of what's not there while a slight burn of where my fingers would be begins to form. Dad told me it's what some people call 'Phantom Pain'. It's more annoying than it is painful.

"Yang . . . your stump is poking me in the back." Weiss attacks. I'm glad she's finally gotten a sense of humor.

"That hurts . . . if I was a guy during movie night, I'd be offended."

"If you were a guy I would've froze it off."

"Well, I _**do**_ have one in my bottom drawer . . ."

"Harness-less?"

Weiss' question completely throws me off of my rhythm. I was expecting a remark of disgust or something more . . . fun to see, but the way she asked that has me very confused.

"Umm . . . it can be?" I ask more than say.

"I'll keep that in mind." Weiss sighs after answering me in a completely nonchalant way.

Wait, is she saying she may want to use it? . . . I wonder.

"Weiss . . . are you pent up?" I ask outright instead of beating around the bush.

"I'll admit that after my . . . times with Ruby I-"

"You mean after you two fucked a bit." I say while using my left hand to tell her to continue.

". . . A little too blunt . . . but yes. I can say that it's been a mild distraction to well . . . _**not** _ have her company after a couple of months . . . and I'm not well-versed in ummm . . . self-satisfaction. Especially whe-"

"Time out, Ice Queen." I begin to try making a T with my hands, reminded again that I'm missing an arm . . . It's moments like these that piss me off. "So you've _ **'been'**_ with my sis, but you never took time to . . ." I flip my left hand palm-side up and start to curl my middle and ring fingers in a very suggestive motion, ". . . take care of yourself?"

"No, Yang . . . I've never tried, and I'm not going to start in someone else's house! It's-"

"But you were just asking about my dildo . . ."

"As a last resort!"

"So you'd use a dildo instead of your own fingers?"

"I- It wasn't- You- . . . It's lonely without her in my arms, Yang. I wasn't really going to use it, but I . . . just knowing there's an option? I don't know what I was thinking . . . I'm sure you can understand the feeling of not being able to hold someone in your arms . . . I mean . . ."

"You mean 'arm', and I get it, Weiss. I mean, I have the thing for a reason. If anything-"

"Yang, Weiss! Dinner's ready." Dad's voice calls out from downstairs.

"Coming!" The two of us shout in perfect unison.

"Look, we can talk about this a little later, alright? Don't shy from the conversation later, either."

Weiss gives me a glare that practically curses me out for knowing her habits already. She's dropped a subject or two on me a few times already and she knows I hate that.

I work on sliding my legs off of the bed so I can stand. Once I'm up I keep my hand extended to help tug Weiss away from the corner of my bed so she can stand up without having to constantly shuffle around.

When she's able to get her feet on the floor I help line up her heels by using my feet to slide them into place. The moment I see both heels slip on and I see her finish securing them I give a firm tug to her arm to get her upright.

"Do we _**need**_ to have this conversation, Yang?" Weiss asks while she leads the way out of my room and towards the steps.

"Yes, actually . . . I think you need to get it off your chest."

. . . That, and it'll give us something interesting to talk about. Who wouldn't want to talk about sex!?

"I'm not looking forward to it." Weiss lets out a frustrated groan before the two of us start to descend the steps.

"Patch a bit too boring for you, Snow Angel?"

The familiar voice and nickname for Weiss makes me immediately turn my eyes towards the dining room table that's slightly in view from where I am on the staircase. It's not that surprising when I see a familiar woman with orange hair and spotted cat ears that I pretty much hop over the handrail so I can get by Weiss to say hello.

"Hito! What are you doing here? Aren't you competing? Congrats on the wins." I say while walking towards her.

As usual she has her hair covering her right eye; the same eye she uses for the more powerful portions of her semblance. She offers her usual toothy grin before she slides to her feet to toss her right arm over my shoulder while I move my left arm around her back.

"I was kicking ass a little too fast. They told me to take a few days off to let some more brackets get set up. I'm sittin' pretty for now." She explains.

Ever since The Fall of Beacon, many of the Vale residents took refuge in Patch. After a month and a half a portion of Patch became very popular for fighters to come. Hito, being the type of person she is, decided to make her way there and taunt some of the fighters until it slowly began to spread that she'll fight any and all for some lien.

Within weeks after that, several different divisions of fighters were established. It started off as people with the same type of fighting style, then it changed to weight classes, and now it's simply settled on a ladder system where Shun currently sits at the top of . . . although the one rule that's agreed on is no Huntsman or Huntresses are allowed in their brackets for the sole reason that being a Huntsman in itself means your abilities are sub-human. It would turn the small division into something far from what people intend.

"Nice to see you, Shun." Weiss says after taking her time with getting downstairs.

"Good to see ya, Snow Angel. So, mind if I crash the dinner party? Your dad already told me to pull up a chair." She says, already knowing I won't offer any arguments, and Weiss is unlikely to as well.

"I don't see why not." Weiss answers first.

"Cool. Also, glad to see you're finally gonna get back into boxing." Hito says while letting go of me. Her toothy grin changed to an authentic smile, but I have no idea what she's talking about.

"What are you getting at? I haven't practiced in a while." I explain.

"But . . . what about the fancy new arm in your living room?"


	2. The Fast & The Furious

_Okay, so I took a different method to this chapter, and honestly I think that this may be the format most of these chapters go in. Tell me what you guys think and please leave a review.  
_

 _Look at that! Short, sweet and to the point! . . . Sounds like my love life._

 _Also, yes . . . I used " &" instead of "and" to avoid copyright . . . I'm smart._

* * *

 _ **"Say . . . you remember what happened back at Signal? The day that lil sister of yours thought she could outrun me?"**_

 _ **"How could I forget?"**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 2 - The Fast & The Furious**_

It's another typical day at Signal Academy. I've already had my class with Uncle Qrow, meaning lunch and recess are both right around the corner. The crowded halls of Signal have always been their own little obstacle course to get through between classes. On most days it takes more than a simple three minutes to wander through to get to my next class, the cafeteria, or even out the back exit to enter the schoolyard.

 _Wonder if Rubes is in the workshop? . . . What kind of question is that? Of course she's in the workshop._

I do a complete 180 to start shoving my way through my 'fellow peers' to get to the workshop. Ever since Ruby got her Crescent Rose finished, she's been in that workshop any time she's had free time to continue tinkering with it to get it closer and closer to what she would consider 'perfection.'

As I walk through the halls, I start to lightly punch each of the tall, crimson lockers I pass by. Each punch makes a similar sound, while certain impacts make a musical crunch when I hit directly in the center of the door and have a proper pull-back to leave the locker vibrating.

I finally come up to a large, metal door that contrasts to the other wooden doors of the school. The reason that this door is metal is to avoid any form of fire since sparks tend to fly in a workshop where metallic materials are cut and many different types of power tools are utilized.

Through the glass window of the workshop I peek into where Ruby's usual workstation is. She tends not to use any of the powertools and instead favors the simplistic tinkering utensils like a screwdriver, hammer, ratchet and wrench. Most of her extra modifications rarely require any welding, although her new red-dot sight she's been bragging about did end up dragging Uncle Qrow in to teach her how to weld properly.

To my surprise, Ruby's usual area is empty. I decide to open the door, getting greeted by the scent of metal, wood, and heated materials while I take a quick glimpse around the room to several other students busy with their weapons.

 _Where the hell could she be at this time? Is she actually eating?_

I shrug my shoulders and decide to make my way outside before I take time to eat my food. If I'm right, the track team should be out and about. Most people figure that a track team is a complete waste of time in a school meant to train warriors, but it offers a competitive means to work on cardio as well as a few simple extracurricular credits.

I heard the loud chime of the second bell, marking the start to the next classes of the day. All the students begin to scatter and disappear into rooms, leaving me a much more vacant hallway to walk through as I make a couple of turns to find the double doors that lead into the schoolyard.

The past month and a half I've slowly became more familiar with the schoolyard. A month and a half ago was my first match with Shun. Since then I've had to come watch the end of Shun's track meets so we can then go to the gym where we either work on my boxing or have a spar.

As I enter the schoolyard I look towards one edge of the large, red, ovular track to see where a portion of the track extends out as an established strip for the 100 meter dash. From here I can see a small group of people lined up to race, taking up all eight lanes to have a full on sprint.

Among that group I can spot the orange outfit and autumn shaded hair of the Cheetah Faunus. Next to her I take note of a girl dressed in black with a long strand of red hanging behind her. Without a doubt in my mind that has to be my sister.

Instead of yelling to get their attention, I walk towards the end of the 100 meter dash to wait for the winner which will most likely be between my little sis and the track team's Ace and Anchor. Even from one hundred meters away I can hear the person loud and clear when they yell for everyone to get in their running positions.

I squat down where I stand, watching as Ruby, Shun, and six others all lower to their hands to adapt a proper starting position. The moment I hear 'go', I watch with little surprise as my sister and Shun are the two to immediately blast into the lead without giving the others a chance to reach their top speed before they're already a third of the way towards me.

I squint to see who could be in the lead, paying more attention to their feet to determine who is in front. At first I think it's Ruby, then Shun, only to realize that the two are running shoulder-to-shoulder down to the very last thirty meters.

I expect the ending to be close, but at that moment I see Shun lower her body, getting slightly closer to the ground than she has been. The effect of her posture change makes her get a bit more power in her strides, allowing her to easily leave my sister behind her.

With the two running at full speed, their momentum carries them off of the track and into the grass. Ruby lets herself slow down naturally, going from a sprint to her average running pace, then a jog. After a few more strides she slows to a skip, then finally turns around to start walking back, exhausted from giving her absolute all.

Shun on the other hand decides to show off her body control. Instead of slowing down like Ruby did, she slides into the grass, digging her heels into the dirt until she gets a firm enough footing that makes her heel stop and allows her to shoot upright, changing her forward momentum into a short jump, making her distance to me about a fifth of my sister's.

"Hey, Sunflower. What's going on?" Hito asks me. Despite her just racing my sister, she's barely showing any signs of fatigue aside from a slight pant.

"Not much. Showing off again?"

"Your sister said she's faster than me . . . just establishing dominance . . . You know how I am." She says with an overly suggestive tone in her voice. Before I can offer any words of retaliation, Ruby makes it into earshot. Stopping any comeback or flirty response from leaving my lips.

"Re . . . Rematch . . . in just . . . a second." My sister says, unable to say more than a few syllables before needing to stop and pant for air.

"You sure about that? You sound like you're done." Shun asks, completely skeptical on my sister's ability to continue. Her tone makes it seem like she's trying to taunt my Ruby, but I've spent enough time with her to understand her tones better than most others.

"She'll be ready . . . just give her a minute or two. She won't give up that easily." I say with a smile. My sister is just as stubborn as I am at times. Ruby has taken over seventeen consecutive loses to me in a fighting game we both like to play, and she still keeps challenging me to rematches. Although Uncle Qrow is the person I can never beat, and continue to challenge in turn. Stubbornness must run in the family.

"So, you want another 100? Or you want to kick things up and go for the 400 meter?" Hito asks Ruby. She lowers down to a squat, taking the time to stretch her quads, calves and hamstrings to make sure her muscles don't tighten up too much.

"Four . . . hundred." My lil sis pants, although her breath is returning to her pretty quickly. "I just couldn't . . . pace myself properly . . . I'll win this . . . time."

"Whatever you say. We'll start on some of the lines over there." She points halfway down the strip they just ran, pointing to where a few starting lines are marked at different intervals in each lane. "You pick a lane, you stay in it. We'll go once around and then tag your sister who won't be moving from this spot."

"Why am I being dragged into this?" I groan, although I do admit that I am curious who would win. Ruby's semblance can give her a healthy burst, but Hito's told me that she's never ran at her full speed while she's been on the track team. She claims that if she were to do that during a practice run or during an actual race, then there could be a rule developed to prohibit fauna from doing the sport.

"Because she's your handful. I'll be waiting."

As Hito walks away, I take a moment to appreciate how toned her thighs and calves are. I've taken a couple of low kicks to know just how much damage they're able to deal too. Her kick check lessons are hell to go through, even when she puts a small amount of padding on her shin.

"Hey, Rubes." I call to my sis, taking a few more glances at Hito before I divert my full attention to her.

"Yeah?" She starts to walk by me to head to the starting line. I decide to walk with her as well as lower my voice down to a whisper to keep Hito from hearing.

"Don't go full speed at the start . . .don't even use your semblance. Keep a steady pace the entire way through . . . then when you round the last turn . . . Turn on every single pair of jets you have. I want you to use the forward thrusters, turn the missiles backwards and use them for an extra push, and I want the afterburners scorched. If you do that and surprise her, she may not have a chance to catch up. Alright?"

"Roger, Coach!"

I give Rubes a firm pat on the back, then make my way back to where I'm supposed to be standing to mark the finish line.

With Ruby's mentality in mind, I watch as she decides to choose her lane. Ideally she'd want to choose the largest lane so she'll be further ahead . . . Shun wouldn't make the attempt to pass her until later. But, the appeal of having a shorter distance to turn doesn't necessarily make the shortest lane a bad option either.

For reasons unknown, Ruby takes the second shortest lane - lane 7 - while Shun decides to to take a one lane gap from her and sets herself up on lane 5.

When they're both ready, Shun calls over the same person from earlier and has them announce when to run. The moment I hear the word 'Go' echo in my ear, I pay close attention to both of them when they take off.

Ruby looks a little more composed when she makes the first turn, showing she's taken my advice to heart and is conserving her energy for the final turn. Shun on the other hand appears to be in a calm and steady jog. While her posture is upright and her feet are moving pretty quickly, I know her strides can easily be longer, and she has a tendency to throw her upper body forward when she's planning to accelerate to full speed.

During their run nothing special happens. Ruby maintains a lead for most of it while Shun takes her time in catching up to Ruby, only to just barely be shoulder-to-shoulder when the final stretch hits.

Just as planned, Ruby disappears into her flurry of rose petals, leaving a gust of wind as she practically blinks by the unsuspecting faunus. The burst of speed leaves her over half the distance she was and already at full speed to sprint to the finish.

At the realization that she's basically been conned by my little sister, Shun lowers herself to take off in hopes of catching up to my sister before she can reach me.

My eyes bounce from one person to the other, gauging who will make it to me first at their current speeds. At first I expect Ruby to win without a problem, but a second glance at Hito draws me to the realization that she's still accelerating.

I make a move to stand in the empty lane between the two, both of my arms completely extended so the person who passes me can slap my hand to claim victory.

Ruby doesn't seem to be slowing down at all, but she's not speeding up much either. Her pace is locked in with everything thrown into it. Although I get the feeling she'd double her speed if she looked over the shoulder to the pissed off faunus that continues to catch up with every passing half-second.

As Ruby reaches the final ten meters or so, I see her eyes lock onto me, then my hand. My eyes continue to bounce from Ruby to Hito. Both of them are closing in fast, Hito is still behind Ruby, but she's closed the distance plenty.

Upon realizing both of their speeds are dangerous, I focus on my palms to add a little extra aura to them, knowing the oncoming impacts will sting.

Finally, just as Ruby is about to hit my hand, something completely unexpected happens.

* * *

 **(Present)**

* * *

"This crazy cat DIVES at me!" I conclude, slamming my hand on the table. "Not just dives at my hand, no. She dives at ME."

As I explain what happens, Dad breaks out into a hearty laugh. Weiss on the other hand, seems to only chuckle, although I can't help but think it's from the fact that I got tackled. Hito decides to take over in telling the story, offering the last bit of details while I finish eating my food.

"Hell yeah! I wasn't losin' to your sister. I dove straight for her and knocked her to the ground before Ruby could make contact. If I took her to the floor before there was any contact with her hands, then she could lie and say her sister beat me. I wasn't trying to get screwed over by a biased call." She explains with pride.

We're all settled down at the dining room table. Directly in front of me is Weiss who's been quietly listening to the story while eating her fish and salad. To right is Hito, who is currently telling the last segment of the story while fighting off a few giggles here and there. To my left is Dad, and behind him is the kitchen.

"Wait, so is that why you came home with your jacket ripped that day? I remember having to sow it near the sleeve." Dad asks, his eyes shifting towards me.

"That's the big reason." I smile, then take a couple of bites at my plate. While I'm not too crazy on salad, I have to admit that Weiss does have a good set of tastebuds with how she prepares it.

"So while we're all on the floor, I don't even realize that the track coach is there watching us. While we're exhausted on the ground he walks over to us and asks me if that's really how fast I can run." Hito stops a moment to finish the rest of her food before continuing. "You know what he says after that? He tells me to go all out at the last three races so I have a 'legacy that's never forgotten'. He didn't even care that I was holding back all that time."

It's nice to have dinner like this. It's a little awkward to have my ex around, but it's refreshing at the same time. Weiss and Hito aren't going after each other's necks anymore, and Dad seems to be enjoying how loud the house is with Weiss and I arguing almost every other hour - although most of it is playful banter.

"I would've found it very unsportsmanlike to learn that you were holding back. It's offensive to those you run against . . .but I understand the purpose." Weiss finally speaks up now that the story is done.

Weiss' minor complaint starts a small argument between her and Hito that my Dad and I make short work of excusing ourselves from. While the heiress and the faunus decide to argue, him and I start to collect the plates to bring them all to the sink. Yesterday I did the dishes - with some help from Weiss - so today it's Dad's turn. The moment all the dishes are in the sink or on the counter I take off to the living room. He's got another thing coming if he thinks I'm helping with kitchen duty.

As I walk into the living room I hop onto the couch, making a muscle-memorized motion to grab the remote while I vault over the arm of the furniture. The quest begins to find something worth watching to kill a couple of hours, but no matter what show I find, the arguing of Hito and Weiss interrupts my enjoyment.

So much for me thinking they weren't at each other's throats anymore.

After five minutes of non-stop arguing between the two, they both appear at the living room, but their tones have calmed down quite a bit.

"It's not all about speed. There's a proper technique to execute. There's grace and finesse that needs to be accounted for. All you have is speed and power in your arsenal." Weiss bites while the two walk to the door.

"Well sorry I can't redirect myself by snapping a finger. We all don't have a semblance that's useful in nearly any situation, Snow Angel." Hito bites back. "See ya, Sunflower. Thanks for dinner. Bye, Mr. Xiao Long."

"See ya, Thundercat. Bring me a gift next time you stop by." I kid, but knowing how she can be, she'll make a point of getting me something I'm bound to use.

"Will do, but I want to see you wearing that arm!"

With her last words said I hear the door open and close. There's the light clacking of Weiss' heels on the hardwood floor afterwards that makes me aware that she's directly behind me.

"Well, she spoiled our gift to you. I hope you'll still consider trying it on . . . Not now of course, but whenever you're ready. It's here when you decide." Weiss leans over my shoulder and points to a rectangular box that's just barely peeking out from behind the TV. Even in the orange hues peeking in from the curtains, it's easy to tell that it's from Atlas.

"Did you buy that, Weiss?" I look over my shoulder to the heiress who then sits herself on the backrest of the couch.

"Does everything lien related fall on me, suddenly?" She retorts.

"I mean . . . kinda, sorta?" I question more than state. In the meantime I take the chance to reach over the back of the couch to slip my arm under her thigh. At the same time I press my free hand to her back, giving me little trouble with tilting her backwards to bring her on the couch with me, but as always, I get an earful.

"You can simply ask if you want me to join you!" She scolds while reaching down to slide her heels off. "What's your obsession with handling me like a ragdoll? I don't see any appeal to it at all."

Weiss leans towards the other side of the sofa, placing her arm on the armrest while her side presses into one of the pillows wedged into the corner. She brings her legs up, letting them occupy the empty space between the two of us to get comfortable while I continue to channel hop.

"Well you're light. Lighter than Rubes, even. I just think it's fun." I shrug, tossing the remote in front of her after giving up on finding anything good.

I guess it's soap operas again.

"I'm sure Zwei weighs less than me as well. You can man-handle him instead." Weiss comments.

Where is Zwei, anyway?

"Well you're gonna need to deal with it, Ice Queen. It's fun pick you up." I say to end our conversation.

"I have been, you Brute." Weiss mumbles before stopping on the channel where her boring soap operas spawn from. These things must be my punishment for teasing her too much.

I decide to kick off my boots and put my feet on the sofa too, choosing to mimic Weiss' position to get comfortable on my side. The bonus on mirroring her position is the fact that I can poke the soles of her feet whenever the show gets a little serious just to get her mad and snap her out of the trance.

I love messing with her. It's cute when she gets pissed off.

"Say, mind doing me a favor, Weiss?" I ask, already snickering under my breath at her possible reactions.

"I'm not going to make you an 'Ice Queen Ice Pop'." Weiss groans, recalling one of my old jokes.

"Nah, it's something a lot easier than that." I reassure.

"Well? Ask it, then."

"Mind helping me find a new toy to buy?" I grin, knowing she's about to bite the fishing line.

"Toy? What would you possibly need a toy for?"

"Well you wanted to use mine, right? Might as well get you your own." I say. It's not even a second later that I'm forced to vault over the arm of the sofa and run upstairs while Weiss does her very best to hit me in the back with one of her glyphs projectiles.


End file.
